Claudia's Hospital Room.
"No," Johnny said.
"No?," Claudia echoed. "What 'no'? You have been whining about getting out of the business since you could say the words 'the business.' In fact, I think your first complete sentence was 'Me out business now.'"
"I was a child, not a caveman," Johnny said.
"Come on, John. Why not? Why not leave? Be done with it. You are absolved. Go."
"Why?"
"You can't just take this on faith?"
"Uh, no."
"Why not?"
"Because I know you," he said. "The only reason you'd want me out of here is because you're up to something. And trouble's coming."
"You're imagining things."
"Go ahead. Lie all you want -- I know you. And you know me. If trouble is coming, I'm not leaving you."
********************************************
Wyndemere. Living Room.
Alexis and Nikolas had been interrupted by a phone call. Once he had word from Liz that Claudia and the baby were fine, he hung up and picked up right where they'd left off. But with a lot less tension radiating off him. "What do you mean -- 'Take them down'?," he asked.
"Exactly that. Every single person who could ever want to get custody of Claudia's baby, or kill Claudia's baby, would be put away." When Alexis got to the part about killing Claudia's baby, Nikolas' expression turned dark; it was the first time he'd ever reminded Alexis of Stavros. "Hey, you set up the circumstances for me, you asked me to put myself in her place. And I am telling you, that's what I'd do."
"I disagree."
"Why?"
"Well, Claudia wouldn't do that to her Uncle Rudy, for one."
"You don't think so."
"No, I don't."
"Nikolas, a second ago, you claimed to know the worst about Claudia. I want you to think back to that. And now let me walk you through something. As far as Claudia knows, she's going to die when her baby is born. Are we even sure she knows you plan on getting her out of this alive?"
Nikolas hesitated, and then muttered, "Uncle Rudy was supposed to let her know."
"Come again?"
"Her uncle, Rudy, was supposed to let her know."
"Please tell me you're not working with the mob."
"Please don't make me regret telling you any of this."
"I am not the D.A. I am not the D.A. I am not the D.A."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm renouncing my job title for the duration of this conversation. Because I could lose my job over this. Which means we never had this conversation."
"Can that wait until this conversation is over?"
Alexis took a deep breath. And exhaled. "Let's get through this as quickly as we can."
"All right."
"When Claudia came up with whatever she came up with, she believed she was going to die. And she wants you to be appointed legal guardian of her child. Do I have this right so far?"
"Yes."
"She wants her child to be with you because she believes that number one, you'll give the child the best life possible, and number two, you'll protect that child. Would you say those are safe assumptions?"
"Yes."
"Good. So you're with me so far. All things considered, if Claudia had to choose between her child going to you and a prison-free life for Rudy, what would she do?"
"She'd choose the better life for her child." Before Alexis' expression turned too self-satisfied, he added, "But your choice of options for her is absurd."
"No, it's not. Trust me. If Claudia believes she's going to die -- and, may I remind you, you believe in all seriousness that Sonny intends to kill her too, that's how this conversation started -- if Claudia believes she's going to die, those are the stakes. She's got to get her child to you. And the only way to do that is to eliminate all other comers. She can't be sure that she can plan for all their deaths -- and if she's fond of her uncle, it's probably not a choice she'd make. And not one of these animals is going to give up custody of their own free will. Don't look at me like that, Nikolas. They are animals. The only choice she has is making sure every last one of them is put away. And since she's going to die, there will be no retaliation possible. Especially if she gets Johnny away from the action in time. The only problem with her plan, Nikolas, is that you want her to live."
********************************************
Claudia's Hospital Room.
"This is crazy," John said. "You're telling me to get out of town, and Nikolas Cassadine is telling me not to make a move until I hear from him."
If there was an afterlife, there were only four people Claudia would miss. And she hadn't even met one of them yet. The one she'd miss the most was John. She knew exactly how much she'd miss him, because she'd already been kept away from him for sixteen years.
"My entire life has been spent wishing and fighting for you to take what is rightfully yours, John," Claudia said.
"Yeah. No matter I wanted."
"You'd have looked really good in power. Doing things right. "
"You have a very strange idea of what 'right' means."
"You were right about trouble coming. I'm leaving you in a very bad position. Once the baby is born, all hell will break loose. Whether I'm here or not, there will be no way to protect you. There will be no way for you to protect yourself."
"Whether you're here or not?"
"So I'm making a few adjustments to what I'm fighting and wishing for. I want you to feel safe. I want you to be safe."
"Not leaving without you, Claudee."
Claudia smiled. "Spencer calls me 'Claudee' too. What is it about little boy's mouths that makes my name so difficult?"
"It doesn't have anything to do with our mouths. It's a conspiracy."
Claudia put her hand to John's cheek. "Promise me that the minute you know things are getting hopeless, you'll save yourself."
"What about you?"
"Don't worry about me, John. I'm getting what I want. That's what it's all about."
The night nurse came in with Claudia's dinner.
Claudia smiled and patted John's hand reassuringly. He felt like someone had just walked over his grave.
********************************************
A Hotel Room. Somewhere outside of Port Charles.
Almost as soon as they were done, Rebecca left the bed. She began to dress, and Sonny was about to ask her where she was rushing off to when he realized: this was how he'd met Claudia.
This time, the woman asked the first question. "Your wife's back with you now, right?"
"That's why you're rushing off?"
"So she's not back with you."
"She's back. It's complicated."
"You ever seen them together? It's like Elvira and Dudley Do-Right." Rebecca slipped on her shoes, while checking out Sonny on the bed. He looked like he wasn't going anywhere. "Isn't she going to miss you?"
"She's probably relieved I'm not with her. Where are you staying?," Sonny asked her.
"Why? You wanna give me a ride home?," Rebecca asked.
"No, I just want to know how to find you."
"Don't worry. I'll find you. I always find trouble. Tell me something," she said. "I hear a lot of talk around town. What exactly do you do?"
Sonny turned his head away from her. Not another unwanted conversation. "I import coffee."
"Yeah. Right," she said. "So do you deal in stuff that falls off a truck? Extortion? Racketeering? What?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm just making sure."
She was beginning to sound like a Fed. Another mistake. He waded in carefully. "Making sure of what?"
"That you're what I deserve."
********************************************
A Padded Cell. Somewhere outside of Port Charles.
Dante sat in a padded room with music scrawled all over the walls. The room looked bleak. But he'd been fed. Hadn't been threatened.
Now he was waiting for his father or the F.B.I. to come. He didn't know which would be worse. He would have never accepted this assignment if he'd known he was investigating his father. And he would surely be dead by now if he'd been investigating anyone else.
He hated being alone with his thoughts. He really wished he could read music.
*********************************************
Claudia's Hospital Room.
Sonny came quietly into the darkened room.
Claudia was asleep. Sonny moved the food tray, with its empty cups and plates, off to the side.
He sat beside Claudia and thought about how quickly she'd told her uncle about Dante. It turned out that Claudia, who didn't believe in consequences for herself, was Lady Justice when it came to protecting her own. She was quick to destroy his children. Who knew what she would do in the name of her own? If she could actually put her child before herself.
Claudia was dangerous. Treacherous.
"I'm just making sure."
"Making sure of what?"
"That you're what I deserve."
He'd stayed with Claudia because he'd felt she was what he deserved. Because of the life he'd made for himself. But there was a child about to be born who hadn't made a life for himself yet. This baby was getting Claudia as a mother because of Sonny's choices.
Claudia was damaged beyond repair. He knew when they'd had each other at gunpoint and she'd kissed him. He'd known it as she pursued him through his contempt for her. She'd been with him, knowing what she'd done to Michael. And when he'd found out about Michael... What would happen when Sonny had done something unforgivable? When she knew how much he loved their child. When their child was the one weapon she had to use against him.
From here on out, he was going to make sure their child grew healthy inside her. He would be the perfect husband and father. And once the baby was born, there would be justice for Michael. And he would make sure Claudia never came anywhere near their child.
*********************************************
Wyndemere. Nikolas' Bedroom.
This was the worst time of day for Nikolas. Alone in his bed without her.
All day, every day, he was surrounded by people who hated her, and didn't really know her. Except for Spencer, but somehow he thought discussing Claudia's survival odds and an upcoming custody battle would be a little beyond Spencer.
This was where he'd first met her. When she washed up on the docks, he'd thought she was Emily and she'd thought he was Johnny, and before they had a chance to exchange words with each other as Nikolas and Claudia, she was unconscious. Here, in this room, they'd finally really met when she'd regained consciousness, and something had happened between them. There was a connection discovered that time and distance didn't change. Every time they saw each other, it was as if they were picking up right where they'd left off. They may have spent weeks or months apart, but all of their time together felt like one long uninterrupted conversation.
He shouldn't have put her in the guest house that first night back. He should have moved her into his bedroom. Being together was inevitable. All that time with her not by his side was wasted time.
Maybe getting her baby to him was enough for her. But it would never be enough for him. He was a Cassadine. He wanted it all.
He would make both plans fit together. All those years preparing under Stefan to become the Prince had surely prepared him enough for this.
